Serial Method (Twelve Tone Technique) Group: Karen, David, Michelle, Patrick, Jody, Angie

Composer Timeline 12-Tone Serial Method

(now known as the 12-Tone Technique or Dodecaphony) “The Method of Composing with Twelve Tones Related Only to Each Other” - Schönberg (now known as the 12-Tone Technique or Dodecaphony)

Tone Row P - prime I - inversion R - retrograde RI - retrograde inversion 12-Tone Serial Method

The Definition of Serialism A method or style of composition which a parameter of the piece is subjected to a fixed permutation or series of elements in succession. 12-Tone Serial Method

Serialism - A Basic Definition A piece of music for which there is an order to the progression of events. Events are notes and/or aspects of the music Including: chord duration, rhythms, dynamics Twelve Tone only refers to the notes. The order of events (series) are determined by a numerical representation of a tone row 12-Tone Serial Method

Tone Row - Definition The arrangement of all twelve notes of the equal-tempered scale so that each note appears only once. Each note has equal importance No tonic and dominant relations The order of these twelve notes is to be strictly followed throughout the piece Only four possible permutations on the row 12-Tone Serial Method

Tone Row Conventions Once a series is created it can be transposed over all 12 notes There are four forms of a tone row for each of the 12 transposition This allows for 48 forms for any particular tone row With so many tone rows (479,001,600), possibilities for music is virtually limitless 12-Tone Serial Method

Tone Row Conventions (cont’d) Intervals are a quality heard, not seen They are diatonic intervals - not exact Cb would become a B for transcription Any particular tone row must be played in whole, or as a part of one or more statements of a series There were no conventions for: changing register, number of series played, etc. 12-Tone Serial Method

Four Forms of a Tone Row Prime form Retrograde form the original form of a twelve tone row or any of its transpositions Retrograde form the statement of a tone row in the reverse order from which it was stated in prime form 12-Tone Serial Method

Four Forms of a Tone Row (cont’d) Inversion form Turning the prime statement of a tone row upside down, mirroring all intervals minor 3rd up becomes a minor 3rd down Retrograde Inversion form the statement of a tone row in the reverse order from which it was stated in inversion form 12-Tone Serial Method

Prime Retrograde Inversion Retrograde Inversion 12-Tone Serial Method

Tone Row Naming The basic four shapes of a tone row are usually labeled as follows (although there is no standard naming convention) : P for prime I for inversion R for retrograde RI for retrograde inversion 12-Tone Serial Method

Tone Row Naming (cont’d) Subscript numeral is the pitch-class number interval by semitones from index number (This is not a standard either) Index number is represented by subscript 0 and is set by the starting note of the prime Example: Assuming P0 to be on C P10 represents a prime version of the tone row beginning on Bb 12-Tone Serial Method

Ideas Behind a Tone Row Avoid melodic progressions which are too traditional in character Arpeggio chords or scale association. Bb: I iii V Ab: I iii V 12-Tone Serial Method

Ideas Behind a Tone Row (cont’d) Avoid using too many melodic intervals of the same or similar size These may lead to melodic monotony M3 M3 M3 12-Tone Serial Method

Ideas Behind a Tone Row (cont’d) Avoid chromatic combinations that result in the resolution of a leading tone 12-Tone Serial Method

Ideas Behind a Tone Row (cont’d) Except in a deliberate design devoted to a particular interval, a row generally contains a balanced number of seconds, thirds, fourths or fifths, and tritones P5 st st m7 M2 st tt st P4 P5 M7 12-Tone Serial Method

Terminology Closed system - all the selected tone row forms contain the same two notes for their outer pitches Twelve-tone aggregate - groups of notes freely combined with each other to form the twelve tone row 12-Tone Serial Method

Terminology (cont’d) Hexachord - the row divided into 2 groups of 6 notes Combinatoriality - “the simultaneous presentations of two different forms of a single row so constructed that the new twelve-tone aggregates are created by the combination of their hexachord” 12-Tone Serial Method

Explanation of matrix creation http://www.pcpros.net/~ntxawgl/music/12_tones_technique.htm 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works Josef Hauer (1883-1959) Piano Piece, op.25 (1923) Wandlungen (1927) Over 1,000 Zwöftonspiele (Twelve-Tone Games) after 1939 Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951) Five Piano Pieces, op.23 (1923) Serenade, op.24 (1923) 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works (cont’d.) Suite for Piano, op.24 (1924)—first completely twelve-tone work Wind Quintet, op.26 (1924) Suite for Seven Instruments (1926) Third String Quartet (1927) Variations for Orchestra (1928) Suite in E, op.29 (1926) Variations, op.31 (1928) 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works (cont’d.) Von heute auf morgen, op.32 (1928) Piano Piece, op.33a (1929) Moses und Aron (1930) Accompaniment to a Film, op.34 (1930) Fourth String Quartet (1936) Violin Concerto (1936) Piano Concerto (1942) 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works (cont’d.) String Trio, op.45 (1946) Phantasy for violin and piano, op.47 (1949) Alban Berg (1885-1935) "Schliese mir die Augen beide" (1925) Lyric Suite (1925) Violin Concerto (1935) 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works (cont’d.) Anton Webern (1883-1945) Kinderstücke (1924) String Trio, op.20 (1927) Symphony, op.21 (1928) Quartet, op.22 (1930) Concerto, op.24 (1934) 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works (cont’d.) Nikoloas Skalkottas (1904-1949) Third Piano Concerto (1939) Fourth String Quartet (1940) Ernst Krenek (1904-1968) Karl V (1933) Lamentio Jerimaiae Prophetae (1942) 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works (cont’d.) Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975) Il Coro degli zitti (1936) Tre Laudi (1937) Volo di notte (1939) Canti di prigiona (1941) Cinque Frammento di Saffo (1942) Liriche greche (1945) Job (1950) 12-Tone Serial Method

Composers and Works (cont’d.) Goffredo Petrassi (b. 1904) Noche oscura (1951) Second Concerto for Orchestra (1952) Wolfgang Fortner (1907-1987) Third String Quartet (1948) Milton Babbitt (b. 1916) 3 Compositions for Piano 12-Tone Serial Method

WWW sites: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/g_twelve_tone.html http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schonberg.html http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/classmus.html http://www.pcpros.net/~ntxawgl/music/12_tones_technique.htm http://www.futurenet.com/classicalnet/composers/features/schoenberg/arnie.html http://music1.csudh.edu/Mus486/TwelveTone/ 12-Tone Serial Method

More WWW sites: http://geocities.com/Vienna/9498/settheory.html http://www-personal.umich.edu/~fields/gems/5.htm http://arts.usf.edu/music/wtm/art-aw.html http://www.music.princeton.edu/~ckk/smmt/serialism.3.html http://ananke.advanced.org/3343/web-docs/muglossary.html http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/13162.html http://thumper.pomona.edu/~elindholm/web_op6.htm 12-Tone Serial Method